- Medianet revealed its latest Australian Media Landscape Report based on a survey of 803 journalists.
- 54% of journalists now use AI tools in their work (up from 37% in 2024), primarily for tasks like document summarising, transcription and research, with ChatGPT being the most popular tool
- 93% of journalists expressed concern about AI's impact on journalism quality, while 22% reported job losses related to AI adoption throughout 2025
- Press releases have become the top story source for journalists (86%), overtaking industry contacts, while social media usage has declined
- Despite using AI themselves, 78% of journalists are sceptical of AI-generated PR content, with 48% claiming they can usually identify AI-written pitches
- The industry is becoming increasingly fragmented, with 49% of journalists considering alternative platforms like newsletters and podcasts, while there's mixed reception to the rise of news influencers
The 2026 Australian Media Landscape Report by Medianet has revealed a massive shift in the media industry, as journalists rapidly adopt Generative AI while simultaneously grappling with its impact on job security and professional integrity. While 54% of journalists are now using AI in the newsroom, the vast majority (93%) are concerned about the impact of AI in the quality of journalism.
The rapid adoption of AI tools
The use of Generative AI or Large Language Models (LLMs) saw a significant jump from 2024, when just 37% of journalists had used AI in their work. The 2026 report finds that 54% of journalists now personally use these tools.
Rather than using AI to write content, most journalists are primarily utilising the technology for research and efficiency. The top uses for AI in the newsroom include summarising documents (50%), transcriptions (46%), background research (45%) and proofreading (39%). The main AI tools being used are ChatGPT (66%) and Gemini (35%).
Escalating concerns and AI-related job losses
Despite higher adoption rates, concern regarding the technology has reached an all-time high with 93% of respondents expressing concern about the impacts of AI on the overall integrity or quality of journalism, up from 88% in 2024 and 79% in 2023.
These concerns are backed by a tangible impact on employment. The report found that 22% of journalists lost work or knew someone who had lost work in 2025 due to the adoption of Generative AI. This is a significant increase from 16% in 2024 and 12% in 2023. Freelancers, casual workers and those in radio and podcasting were noted as the most affected groups.
"Journalists are effectively embracing the very technology they fear will undermine the integrity of their craft and the security of their roles. It is a pragmatic but painful adoption." Medianet Managing Director, Amrita Sidhu said.
“While we are seeing a steady increase in the adoption of AI, the level of concern for the industry's future has never been higher”, she added.
AI and trust in PR content
While 54% of journalists use AI themselves, they remain highly sceptical of its use in PR communications, especially when it comes to AI-written content. The vast majority of journalists (78%) who use AI state that receiving AI-generated pitches decreases their trust in PR content. Almost half (48%) of them state that they can ‘almost always’ tell if a pitch was written by AI.
Changes in information sources
The report confirms the continued importance of PR professionals to the industry's success, with 66% of journalists rating PR professionals as either "very important" or "somewhat important" mainly due to their ability to bring important stories and sources to their attention.
Sources of information for journalists are seeing a significant shift towards trusted and vetted sources. For the first time, press releases have overtaken industry contacts as the top story source, used by 86% of journalists. Social media is now used by 65% of journalists, a drop from 76% in 2022. The use of X (formerly Twitter) in a professional setting has continued to drop and is now only the fifth most used social media platform, with Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram remaining on top. AI as a source has instead tripled in two years, being used by 22% of respondents in 2025, up from 7% in 2023.
The future of Australian media and the rise of "news influencers"
The general outlook towards the Australian media is sharply divided. While a narrow majority (53%) feel some level of optimism, 47% are not at all optimistic. Many describe an industry in crisis, characterised by a transition away from traditional newsrooms towards a more fragmented landscape.
This fragmentation is evidenced by the rise of "news influencers". The industry remains cautious of this trend; while 26% view influencers as an opportunity to reach younger audiences, 41% see them as a threat. Key concerns cited include a lack of editorial expertise, accountability and a formal code of ethics. In response to these shifts, 49% of journalists are now considering or running alternative platforms, such as Substack publications, newsletters or podcasts, to seek creative freedom.
"We are at a defining crossroads for Australian media. The data shows an industry in transition and moving away from the traditional, centralised newsroom towards a more fragmented landscape of newsletters, podcasts, and independent creators", said Sidhu.
"The rise of news influencers is a double-edged sword; it offers a way to reach younger audiences, yet it bypasses the traditional editorial guardrails that the vast majority of our respondents are desperate to protect."
To download the full report and graphics, click here.
A summary of the report is below.
About the Medianet Media Landscape Report
The Medianet Australian Media Landscape Report offers a yearly snapshot of the Australian journalism and media industry, capturing the current work conditions, challenges, opinions and developing trends as experienced and observed by working journalists.
Since 2019, Medianet has surveyed hundreds of journalists to gather their views and experiences on industry-related issues, and to track developing trends over the years. The report also offers valuable insights to PR professionals by examining what journalists need and want from PR, what kind of stories they are looking for, and where they are looking for them. The data for this report is based on a survey of 803 journalists conducted in January 2026.
About us:
Medianet, a division of Mediality, is a PR platform and media intelligence business servicing both the media and public relations industries.
Contact details:
Amrita Sidhu
Managing Director, Medianet
+61 481 177 686 [email protected]
Mercedes Carrin
Head of Marketing, Medianet
+61 430 729 397 [email protected]
